There were a few other titles I pondered using: Camping with a cuckoo or A poo with a view but stuck with the first one.

Have been hill walking many years and only just learned that those over 1000m were called Archies as we were accompanying a pal who had signed up to a charitable cause to have someone on top of all the Archies in one day in aid of the Archie Foundation https://archie.org

There were four different parties all meeting at a parking spot in the middle of nowhere on the Friday evening. First up, Christine, fresh from a jaunt to Lurg Mhor and Cheesecake the previous two days. Scoping out where tents could go, the co-ordinates were shared and next to arrive were Rob n Laura in the campervan, followed by us in our campervan and finally Lynsey and Mica who were also camping. All seven of us squashed into the wee campervan as it had a better layout to enjoy a cuppa and discuss the logistics for the next morning. Duncan only had the two Sgurrs left to do and his legs were weary from a cycle round Loch Ness on the Friday. Rob had a bit of a twitchy knee so the two of them would set off in the vans to park up at the end and rendezvous at the top of Meall a'Chrasgaidh. The rest of us would take the two cars to park up in the Dirrie More. That settled we all hit the sack to the pleasant sound of cuckoos (or not so pleasant in Mica's case as he was driven to distraction by the noisy bunch).







Up at 6am, breakfast and off we set. Mica had plotted a similar route to a family who managed all seven with their kids and a dog. Followed a faint landcover track past some curious structures which we thought may have been the foundations of a bridge until we spotted another nowhere near the river. Turned out they were access points (??) for the pipeline shown on the map. A quick peek down into the hole made me quiver and wonder why there was no safety grill over the top - it seemed a long way down.





We picked up the path from the WH route, followed it to a wee dam then started up a faint path to the first. Got to top after about 2 hours and the day stretched out before us.



Followed the path to the biggie of Sgurr Mor and then checked on 'Find my iPhone' to gauge the whereabouts of our compadres. They seemed stationary about a mile away and indeed they were, sitting for about 45 minutes waiting for us on the top of the Meall.





Whilst rummaging around in his bag for his piece, Duncan realised he hadn't cleared it out properly from his daily cycle commute and was carrying a jar of olives, an iPad and a bike pump (he has form for this and has cycled around Aberdeenshire with a full nut roast in a pyrex dish).
Sustenance consumed, photos taken and off we plodded to the next two Sgurrs.





The going was easy enough but my right knee started twanging a bit on the downhills.



The plan was to include the next two Munros making it a day of seven but wanting to not be limping off the final hill, I chose to accompany Rob and Duncan back down the easy path from the bealach whilst the others went on to bag the final two.

This was a lovely wee walk and I had made the right decision as my legs and feet were starting to get weary by now. We stopped at a delightful spot to cool down in the glorious heat. It was idyllic and would make a perfect camp spot. I just stuck my feet in but the boys went for total immersion. Further on there is an even better pool for a proper swim but this was fine.









We got the stinky socks and boots back on and wandered the last bit down through the woods and over a nice bridge, wondering what the story was about the old house and boat house that must've been vacated years ago.

Started walking at 0710 and got back to vans about 1800 - an eleven hour day for us. Back at the van I had the luxury of a shower, a cuppa and we chilled waiting for the others. There was a weird noise made by some bird that none of us could catch a glimpse of (discovered later it was a snipe). The others arrived about 8pm, weary but happy. Mica and Lynsey were driving home and the rest of us high tailed it to Aultguish Inn before the kitchen closed, making it in the nick of time for a main course only. We decided to park up for the night as campervans were made welcome for £10 with an outside toilet for our use. Meant we could enjoy a full, all you can eat breakfast next day for £9.50. Christine headed off to climb more hills whilst we headed home with a stop off by a loch for a lovely swim. Feeling a bit stiff.